The MLA stands to automatically lose his Assembly membership in accordance with the Supreme Court’s 2013 ruling that any MP or MLA convicted of a crime and handed a minimum two-year jail term ceases to be an elected representative with immediate effect.

Sonbhadra: A special court in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra district has held BJP MLA Ramdular Gond guilty of raping a 15-year-old girl in 2014, a crime for which punishment under the POCSO Act usually ranges between a seven-year jail term and life imprisonment. The court will pronounce the quantum of punishment on December 15.

Additional District Judge (First), MP/MLA Court, Ehsan Ullah Khan, found the MLA guilty in the 2014 rape case, said Special Public Prosecutor (POCSO) Satyaprakash Tripathi.

Gond, a first-time MLA who won the Duddhi seat in 2022, had been out on bail. He was taken into custody and sent to jail soon after his conviction by additional district judge (first) Ehsan Ullah Khan of the MP-MLA court.

Gond stands to automatically lose his Assembly membership in accordance with the Supreme Court’s 2013 ruling that any MP or MLA convicted of a crime and handed a minimum two-year jail term ceases to be an elected representative with immediate effect.

Advocate Vikas Shakya, the survivor’s counsel, said the MLA was held guilty under Sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, besides the POCSO Act. The verdict came after the court heard eight prosecution and three defence witnesses.

Reportedly, the incident took place on November 4, 2014, and a case was registered against the MLA on the complaint of the victim’s brother. The MLA’s wife was the gram pradhan at the time of the incident.